The invention relates in general to fishing and fishing equipment, and more particularly to a sound producing fishing accessory for attracting a fish by mimicking sounds of a fish""s prey, the accessory being designed and adapted to provide blind positive engagement to a fishing hook.
The primary goal of fishing lure design is in improving the probability of catching fish. It has been found that using a sound producing apparatus can induce a fish to strike, particularly when the sound producing apparatus mimics the sound of a fish""s natural prey. Such apparatus have been attached to fishing hooks with varying results.
Some of these noise making apparatus have included clips or snaps that attach to the shaft of a fishing hook. These apparatus can be effective when the hook is easily visible and accessible to the fisherman. However, this type of attachment has some disadvantages.
Prior art noise making apparatus are frequently lost. The apparatus may be lost during a strike by the thrashing of the fish. The clips or snaps may become worn and the apparatus fails to remain attached to the fishing hook. This may results in the noise making apparatus flying off the fishing hook while being cast out or becoming dislodged by underwater obstacles when the hook is being reeled in. Losing fishing equipment costs a fisherman money, and worse, may cause early termination of a fishing trip if spares are not on hand.
At night or in poor lighting conditions, it is difficult for the fisherman to securely attach the noise making apparatus to the fishing hook. If the hook already has bait, a lure, or other fish attracting device attached, it is difficult to determine whether the noise making device is securely attached to the hook or lure. It is desirable to provide a method of attachment of a noise producing fishing accessory that makes fishing easier, more enjoyable and more productive.
It can be seen that there is a need for a sound producing fishing accessory and a method for attachment of a sound producing fishing accessory that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. It can also be seen that there is a need for a sound producing fishing accessory that provides fish attracting sounds that mimic the noises made by a fish""s prey that can be simply and positively attached to a fishing hook under blind conditions.
To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention discloses a method and apparatus for attracting fish using a sound producing fishing accessory providing blind positive engagement to a hook.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a hook engaging member for blindly connecting a fishing accessory to a fishing hook includes a hook path opening for guiding the hook into an interior of the hook engaging member. A hook receiving orifice forms an outlet from the interior of the hook engaging member. The hook engaging member includes a mating portion for attaching the fishing accessory to the hook engaging member. Connecting the hook to the hook engaging member provides positive engagement therebetween.
The hook receiving orifice may be formed by piercing the hook engaging member with the hook during connection of the hook to the hook engaging member. The hook receiving orifice may include a plurality of orifices disposed in a top portion of the hook engaging member. The hook receiving orifice may be disposed along a side portion of the hook engaging member.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a combination fishing lure includes a bait, a hook having an eye at a proximal end of the hook and a barbed point at a distal end of the hook, and a sound producing fishing accessory attachable to the hook. The sound producing fishing accessory includes a rattle chamber, at least one rattling element disposed within an interior of the rattle chamber, and a hook engaging member. The hook engaging member is disposed at an end of the rattle chamber and includes a hook path opening for guiding the hook into an interior of the hook engaging member. Connecting the hook to the hook engaging member provides blind positive engagement of the hook to the sound producing accessory through a hook receiving orifice. The hook receiving orifice forms an outlet from the interior of the hook engaging member.
The combination fishing lure may include a detent at a proximal portion of the hook. The detent provides positive locking engagement with the hook engaging member of the rattle chamber. The rattle chamber may further include a plugging element, the plugging element is inserted into an opening in an end of the rattle chamber to close the end of the rattle chamber. The plugging element and the rattling element can be formed of identical or different materials to produce a distinct sound when impacting one another.
The combination fishing lure may include a connecting device attached to one end of the rattle chamber, the connecting device providing attachment of additional fishing accessories to the sound producing device. The additional fishing accessories may include light emitting devices, treble hooks, skirts, standard hooks, corkscrew accessories and spinning blades. The connecting device for providing attachment of additional fishing accessories can include a flanged head extending from the plugging element by a stem. The flanged head is adapted to be received into and retained in a reciprocating orifice, the reciprocating orifice being connected by an extension to a fishing accessory.
In one configuration of the fishing lure, the bait is an artificial bait. The artificial bait is provided with at least one slot adapted to receive the sound producing fishing accessory therein. An interior of the artificial bait may not be visible from an exterior of the artificial bait.
The hook engaging member can be formed integral with the rattle chamber or be formed as a separate element fixably or removably connected to the rattle chamber. The rattling element of the fishing lure may be selected from the group consisting of plastic beads, glass beads and metal ball bearings. The rattle chamber may be adapted to receive at least one weight at an end thereof.
The combination fishing can be used with a live bait. The sound producing device is inserted into a belly cavity of the live bait prior to blind positive engagement with the hook. In this configuration, the sound producing device is inserted into a mouth of the live bait prior to blind positive engagement with the hook.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a sound producing fishing accessory for attachment to a hook includes a rattle chamber, at least one rattling element disposed within an interior of the rattle chamber, and a hook engaging member. The hook engaging member is disposed at an end of the rattle chamber. The hook engaging member includes a hook path opening for guiding the hook into an interior of the hook engaging member. Connecting the hook to the hook engaging member provides positive engagement of the hook to the sound producing accessory through a hook receiving orifice that forms an outlet from the interior of the hook engaging member.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a method of blind positive engagement of a fishing hook to a fishing accessory involves inserting the fishing accessory into an enclosed element that obscures visibility of the fishing accessory. A point of the hook is inserted through the enclosed element and into a hook path opening in an interior of a hook engaging member disposed at an end of the fishing accessory until the hook abruptly impacts a top of the fishing accessory. The hook is twisted, turned or pushed within the hook path opening through a hook receiving orifice that forms an outlet from an interior of the hook engaging member. The hook is pushed and turned into the enclosed element and through the hook receiving orifice until a detent of the hook is engaged within the hook receiving orifice. The hook is set into the enclosed element and pulled to ensure that the hook is positively engaged to the fishing accessory.
The method may include a fishing accessory having a rattle chamber and at least one rattling element disposed within an interior of the rattle chamber. The fishing accessory may be selected from the group consisting of at least light emitting devices, treble hooks, skirts, standard hooks, corkscrew accessories and spinning blades. The method may further involve attaching at least one weight to the fishing accessory.
In one aspect of the method, twisting, turning or pushing the hook within the hook path opening through a hook receiving orifice involves forming the hook receiving orifice by piercing the hook engaging member with the hook.